CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ BHUBANESWAR l friday l may 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late CITY EDITION FIR filed against Kejri aide Bibhav Maliwal says she was slapped and punched, adding the CM knew about it U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi AAP parliamentarian Swati Maliwal on Thursday gave her statement to the Delhi Police over her physical assault by Bibhav Kumar, close aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, at the latter’s residence a few days ago. Top official sources told this newspaper that Maliwal said she was sitting at the drawing room of the CM house when Bibhav Kumar came and started abusing her without any provocation. She alleged that he slapped her, used abusive words in Hindi, and threatened to kill her. Maliwal accused him of then hitting her on her chest, stomach and even lower part of the body She some. how escaped from the clutches of the attacker, came out and dialled the police for help. She broke down while recording her statement. Maliwal also alleged that Kejriwal was present in the house at the time of the assault and was in complete knowledge of the incident. hearing today Total turnout 66.95% so far, says poll panel M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi The Election Commission of India on Thursday put the cumulative turnout in the four phases of Lok Sabha elections at 66.95%. The poll panel in a statement said the updated voter turnout in the fourth phase of polling on May 13 was 69.16%, which was 3.65% higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 general elections. This is the only phase where the turnout graph went up. In the third phase, the updated turnout was recorded as 65.68%, about 3% lower than 2019’s data of 68.40%. Likewise, the second phase recorded 66.71% polling as against 69.64% in the 2019 polls, down by about 3%. And the first phase turnout was 66.14% as against 69.43% in 2019, a drop of 3.3%. As many as 45.10 crore voters out of the total 97 crore on the poll rolls in 379 seats across 23 states and Union Territories have voted in the first four phases of elections. Three more phases are due with the last day of polling on June 1. The statement also listed the measures taken to encourage them to vote in good numbers. The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a plea of the Association for Democratic Reforms, an NGO, seeking a direction to the Election Commission to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. express read SC adds safety layer in arrests under PMLA The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Enforcement Directorate cannot arrest an accused under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after a special court takes cognisance of the complaint of money laundering. The ED will have to apply to the concerned court to get his custody, the bench said, adding another layer of safety to the draconian law | P9 Naveen returns to ‘top’ form at capital roadshow CM Naveen Patnaik on Thursday held a massive roadshow in the state capital. He reiterated BJD’s commitment to provide free power to 90 per cent of families in Odisha | P3 The police then registered an FIR against Bibhav Kumar, based on Maliwal’s complaint. The FIR was registered under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code at the Civil Lines police station. On May 13, Maliwal had alerted the Delhi Police after her assault but did not file a formal complaint. However on Thursday, a two-member police team, which included a senior officer from the Special Cell and an Additional DCP-rank woman officer, went to her residence and took around four-and-ahalf hours to record her statement. Lat- er in the day, Maliwal was taken to the AIIMS for medical examination. Bibhav Kumar has been summoned by the National Commission for Women to appear in person before it on Friday at 11 am. Maliwal, who remained silent after the assault, finally posted on X that the last few days were very “difficult for her”. She was sarcastic about those who tried to assassinate her character and accused her of doing it on the behest of some other party . “ important election is going on in An the country, Swati Maliwal is not important, the issues of the country are important. There is a special request to BJP people to not do politics on this incident,” she said. As for Kejriwal, he kept mum on the assault at a joint press conference he addressed with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. What happened to me was very bad. I have given my statement to the police. I hope that appropriate action will be taken. The last few days have been very difficult for me — Swati Maliwal BJP worker killed, 8 injured in pre-poll violence in Ganjam E x p ress N ews S er v i c e @ Berhampur/Bhubaneswar As Odisha readies for its second phase elections, pre-poll violence raised its ugly head in Ganjam district where a BJP worker was killed and eight others injured in a clash with BJD supporters at Srikrushnasaranpur village under Khallikote police limits. According to reports, the clash took place on Wednesday night over putting up banners by the BJP workers led by local party leader Dilip Pahan in the village which was opposed by the BJD supporters. Pahan is reported to have told the BJD workers that they should not be opposing the BJP flags as BJD banners and posters had already been pasted in the village. Later in the night, around 30 people came in motorcycles and attacked the BJP workers with sharp weapons. The injured were taken to Khallikote CHC and later shifted to MKCG MCH,where doctors declared Dilip dead. The incident sparked tension in the area with BJP workers allegedly vandal- CEO orders deployment of 20 CAPF companies in the district The chief electoral officer (CEO) Nikunja Bihari Dhal on Thursday approved deployment of 20 companies of CAPF in the district for the second phase elections on May 20. Dhal has instructed the Ganjam collector, who is also the district election officer, to not to use the CAPF companies as reserve or strike force. The CAPF will be deployed for peaceful conduct of polls in different booths across the district. ising several vehicles parked near the residence of BJD candidate and sitting MLA from the Khallikote Assembly seat Surjyamani Baidya. They demanded the arrest of the MLA and her husband Daitary Behera alleging their involvement in the attack. Election for the Khallikote seat would be held on May 20. A large police contingent was rushed to the village to control the situation after the incident while nine persons were arrested in the connection. Continued on P5 Sunil Chhetri, one of India’s finest footballers, announced that he would be retiring after the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on June 6 | P13
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